Have a barrel of fun at antique gun show
The 37th annual Baltimore Antique Gun Show opens a two-day run Saturday at the Baltimore Convention Center with more than 800 tables filled with firearms and other associated antiques including swords, uniforms, ammunition, gun books and the like.
No handguns of later than 1898 vintage will be allowed, said Al Burns of the show committee. Hours, for this the biggest show of its kind in the East, are 10 to 5 on Saturday; 9 to 4 on Sunday. Saturday's admission is $5; Sunday's, $3. Phone Al Burns, 1-301-877-2912.
Calendar ...
* Tonight: Trap doubles, 6 p.m., Loch Raven Skeet & Trap Club. Call John Stevens, 679-4199.
* Saturday: Beginner's beekeepers course, 9:30 a.m., Oregon Ridge Nature Center. Registration, $15 for individuals; $20 for families. Call 887-1815.
* Saturday: Pennsylvania trout season opens at 8 a.m. $5 trout/salmon stamp now required.
* Saturday: Diving Day, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Diver's Den, 8105 Harford Road. Dive computer seminars at 11 and 1 o'clock. Call 668-6866.
* Saturday/Sunday: Trap shoot, 9 a.m. both days, Tuscarora Gun Club, Frederick. Call John Stevens, 679-4199.
* Saturday/Sunday: Third annual Bay Country Boat Show, 10 to 6 on Saturday and 10 to 4 on Sunday, Hollywood Fire Department, Route 235, Hollywood in St. Mary's County. Appearing will be Ray Bohannon, 1990 national champ of Military Bass Anglers Association. Call 1-301-373-5468.
* Saturday/Sunday: Turkey Hunting Field Days, including gun patterning and hunting tips, Green Ridge State Forest. Call John Mash, 1-301-777-2198.
* Tuesday: Frank Holden will talk on trolling for big bluefish at a 7:30 p.m. public meeting of Essex-Middle River Chapter, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermens Association, Commodore Hall, Old Eastern Avenue.
* Tuesday: DNR Home Firearms Safety Seminar, 7 to 10 p.m., Howard County Fairgrounds. This course is geared to help those with little or no firearms experience -- and just want to know how to use them. Call Phil Wagenbrenner, 461-3007.
Planning ahead ...
* May 11: Opening of the first spring trophy rockfish season in Maryland. It will be restricted to waters of the main bay below the Bay Bridge, and including Tangier and Pocomoke sounds. Start shopping for big bucktails now to avoid a rush that could be worse than the bedlam prior to last October's fall season. Following are the regulations: All fish must be of at least 36 inches; no maximum size restrictions. Fishing hours will be 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., and fish must be checked in on the day caught. The use of gaffs will be restricted in landing any rockfish, only artificial lures will be allowed, and the possession limit will be one fish per person for the season, which closes May 27.
Fishermen must obtain free permits before fishing. The three-part permits must list the name and address of the angler, and included will be a biological return report, and a tag that must be attached to a legal fish's gill immediately upon its catch.
Permits -- only one to an angler -- will be available next week, and to obtain one an applicant must have a valid 1991 Chesapeake Bay sportfishing license. For additional permit information, call Frances McFaden at 974-3365.
Among distribution centers where permits can be picked up are:
Baltimore City and County: Chase Bait & Tackle, 12510 Eastern Ave.; Clark's Sports Shop, 3724 S. Hanover St.; Clyde's Sport Shop, 2307 Hammonds Ferry Road; Old Reisterstown Bait and Tackle, 16 Westminster Pike; Outdoor Sportsman, 807 Eastern Blvd.; The Fishing Shop, 7682 Belair Road; Tom's Tropicals, 9020 Belair Road; Wayne's Bait & Tackle, 1601 Light St.; DNR Regional Service Center, North Point Government Center, 7701 Wise Ave.
Anne Arundel: Angler's Sport Center, Route 50, Annapolis; Brown Boy's Marine Supply, Deale; C & EJ's Hunting and Fishing, Lothian; Fish-N-Barrell, Ritchie Highway, Pasadena; Marty's Sporting Goods, Mayo Road, Edgewater; Riviera Sunset Pet Stop, 8518 Fort Smallwood Road, Pasadena; and the main offices of DNR, Tawes State Office Building, Annapolis.
Carroll: Fish Maryland, 1912 Liberty Road; E & W Market, 1912 Liberty Road, Eldersburg.
Cecil: Herb's Tackle Shop, Northeast.
Charles: Rising Tide, Bryantown.
Calvert: Bay Pro Shop, Dunkirk; Bunky's Charterboats, Solomons; Rod 'n Bob, Prince Frederick; Rod & Reel Docks, Chesapeake Beach; DNR Southern Regional Service Center, Prince Frederick.
Dorchester: Gootee's Marina, Golden Hill.
Frederick: The Rod Rack and Frederick Sports Center, both in Frederick.
Harford: Hunton's Sportfishing Center, Bel Air; DNR Central Regional Service Center, 2 S. Bond St., Bel Air.
Howard: Fulton Station Outdoor Sports, Fulton.
Kent: Toy's Outdoor Store, Rock Hall.
Prince George's: Fish Busters, Fort Washington; Ugly Mike's Tackle Box, Bowie.
Queen Anne's: Queen Annes Marina, Stevensville; Sportsman's Service Center, Route 50, Chester; DNR East Central Regional Service Center, 120 Broadway Ave., Centreville.
Talbot: Harrison's Chesapeake House, Tilghman Island; Shore Sportsman, Trappe.
Names and places ...
* The warming waters of Parkers Pond at Salisbury turned the fish on for Baltimoreans Gene Stover and Richard Sobus Tuesday. In four hours with spinners and small swimming plugs they took and released seven bass of from 11 to 17 inches, two pickerel, two bluegills and 12 crappies up to 12 inches. Earlier, an 18 1/2 -inch bass turned up for them at Parkers.
* Things continue to look better for crabbing this year. Early Virginia catches have been so good that prices in the Ocean City area have dropped to $28 a bushel for male crabs; $8 for females. Prices are almost too low to make crabbing worthwhile, complains Paul Bodolus of Ocean City, who has already taken sea trout and a small black drum in his traps.
Question box ...
* Baltimorean Bobby Campbell asks if a shad dart and quilby are the same.
Our answer: The quilby is the original form of the shad dart. When anglers found shad would take artificials in the 1940s, the blunt points of quills from feathers of large birds were filled with lead through which a hook was inserted. When painted they took shad, and almost all were homemade.
Then along came the shad dart molded in lead, and quilbies aren't seen any more. Drop this column a line if you know anyone still using them.
* NOTE: To have an item or question included in the Outdoor Journal, write Bill Burton, The Evening Sun Sports Dept., 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278-0001.
Burton's best bets
* POTOMAC: Shad have arrived at the Chain Bridge sector.
* DEEP CREEK LAKE: Walleyes, pickerel, yellow perch and northern pike here.
* SUSQUEHANNA: Very good smallmouth action in the Harrisburg area.
* UPPER POTOMAC: Good for smallmouths between Brunswick and Lander. Here, fish must be released.
* RAPPAHANNOCK: Shad fishing good.